Happy Anniversary, Darling
by ZimVader0017
Summary: It's been 216 years from that fateful December day when we were bound together by the LOVELY red string of fate. William, my dear, I do hope you're prepared for my gift, for it is as passionate and fiery as my love for you, Darling !
1. Chapter 1

It was a cold and windy December day in London. The year was 2015, and many things had changed since the turn of the last century. The only thing that has been a constant without change is the hustle and bustle of the people and the always busy streets as everyone rushed about, trying to get the items and products needed for the nearing Christmas holiday.

One of the afore mentioned rushing people stood out amongst the crowd with a shock of bright red hair, which was currently held up in a bun, and equally bright green eyes hidden behind a pair of lenses.

Grell Sutcliff was making her way through the thick crowd of Christmas shoppers, actually sidestepping a few who didn't move out of the way. She was trying to get to the Gallery Gifts store hoping to find or at least order custom made two elegant glass paperweights in the shape of pigeons.

Why pigeons? Well, William had this odd love for pigeons, he even kept and cared for a few in a room of his apartment that he used as messenger pigeons. And don't tell anyone, but he also had a hidden curio cabinet in his room where he kept many small glass figurines, which is why Grell had decided on the paperweights.

She had surprised her coworkers, with the exception of one Ronald Knox, by completing her paperwork early. She needed time to prepare everything perfectly for the evening. She knew that as the supervisor her dear Will would come home late, which gave her just enough time to get dinner ready and a little something she had planned.

After getting to the store and buying the paperweights (she thought she had the best of lucks, actually finding them on such short notice), she went into a deserted alleyway where she created a portal to the Reaper Realm, making sure no one saw her. Using the key to his apartment he had given her centuries prior in case of emergencies, she put her shopping bag down on his bed and went to work in the kitchen.

~o~o~o~o~o~

 **To those wondering, yes I'm aware that Grell is male. The reason I used female pronouns is firstly because this chapter was basically in Grell's POV, and she always refers to herself as a woman. Second, Yana has said that Grell is an Okama, which is the way people in Japan call a transsexual person, so it's also out of respect for this group.**


	2. Chapter 2

William rubbed his eyes. It was tiring having to read such small print. He understood that the new technology in this century was quite convenient, especially when you needed a document or a file, you could search it up in seconds. The fact that in this century the deaths were vastly different from the ones he had reaped in the past made the new category system they had installed even more useful.

It certainly helped when the Cinematic Records needed to be placed in inventory, as there were thousands upon thousands of them, and doing them by hand often took months.

Still, he prefered hand written reports. Call him old fashioned, but he rather liked the feel of paper under his pen, the smell of ink and the smoothness in which the words flowed. He was planning on recommending a Handwriting Course for the Academy, as many of the newer reapers had horrid penmanship, which didn't help his headaches much.

He sighed after finishing his corrections on the last report, writing a note to the subordinate to please try and be more organized next time. Getting up from his desk and stretching, he later picked up any files he would be taking home, placing them into a suitcase along with the small laptop a couple of his subordinates had gotten him last Christmas. He figured they hoped that he would allow them to just email their reports in after getting the laptop, but they were sorely mistaken.

Closing in for the night, as he was the only one left in the deserted building, he made his way to his apartment thinking about a small dinner, some warming tea and maybe a bit of reading before he went to bed.

He had been so busy with work all day, he hadn't noticed what day it was, and so he was unprepared for what he found when he opened his door.

 **~o~o~o~o~o~o~**

 **Too short, I know. I didn't know what else to add, Mr. Spears here is surprisingly hard to write about.**

 **Also, I think he should give me a couple of handwriting lessons, Heaven (and my teachers) knows how horrible and barely legible my handwriting is...**


	3. Chapter 3

William stood in the doorway, completely surprised by the unexpected smell of delicious food coming from the kitchen. The room was warm, the thermostat turned up to keep the chill of winter out. He placed his coat by the door and quickly made his way to the kitchen where a soft humming could be heard.

Grell was setting the kitchen table, placing some candle holders on the center. It seemed a romantic candlelight dinner was the plan for the evening. She looked up when she heard him come in, giving him a toothy grin with a wink.

"Hello, Darling. How was work today?"

William, still surprised by finding Grell in his kitchen, shook his head.

"It was the same as always. Correcting badly filled reports and ending up with overtime. Your work was surprisingly well done, I may add. What are you doing here?"

Grell's smile fell a bit. She knew that he would forget what day it was. Of course, she didn't exactly blame him. When you've lived for so long, dates cease to matter to you, especially when you're as busy as William T. Spears.

Still, she wished he would at least write it in his freakishly organized calendar.

"Of course my work was perfect. I usually hate doing paperwork, but today is special, so I wanted to finish it as a gift to you, Love. That wasn't my only gift, you know, that's why I'm here."

"Gift? What's so special about today that you felt the need to give me gifts? Not that I didn't appreciate your consideration."

This time, her smile dropped fully.

"William, today is December 16! The day we graduated together from the Academy!"

William blinked. He suddenly remembered how on that day, Grell had saved his life when he got attacked by Thomas Wallis's cinematic record in their last exam. Grell had been enamored with him since that day, even though she had absolutely despised him months before.

"Oh, of course, I remember now. It has been centuries since that day. Why do you insist on celebrating something that is in the past?"

He realized too late that he said the wrong thing when Grell brushed past him and locked herself in his room.

He sighed. This was ridiculous. He really did appreciate everything she was doing for him, especially the effort in completing the paperwork on time, but to dwell on something that happened so long ago wasn't productive. They didn't have time to do that.

Besides that, this was his apartment. What is she doing locking herself up in his room?

After making sure that the stove was off, he walked over to the bedroom door, knocking his knuckles on it smartly.

"Grell, open up. I apologize for forgetting about today, but honestly, this drama isn't necessary!"

When he received no answer, he tried the door, but it was still locked. After a minute trying to coax Grell into opening the door, he was seriously considering breaking the handle, when he heard the lock being unlatched.

He quickly went inside in case Grell changed her mind, and found her sitting on the bed with a prettily wrapped red box in her hands.

"I just wanted to do something special for you."

He sat down next to her and looked at the hardwood decorative flooring. He couldn't understand why Grell insisted on celebrating something so mundane. Yes, he was glad that they passed, and even though he would often say that it was a stain in his memory, he was also grateful that Grell had saved him that day. If it hadn't been for her, he would have either been dead, or at the very least wouldn't have been able to function as a Grim Reaper. He had heard of the stories of Reapers who hadn't been so lucky. Apparently it was a living Hell, not being able to differentiate between your memories and those of the victim.

Still, what was the use?

"I guess I should thank you for your efforts. Even though I still had overtime, it wasn't as bad since you did your work for once. And coming home to a good meal and a warm house was also a nice gesture."

He looked at the box she was holding.

"You said you had another gift for me. Is it that box?"

She wiped her eyes (thanking whoever invented waterproof makeup in the back of her mind), and nodded while she placed it in his hands.

"I was wondering what to give you, but then I remembered that you liked pigeons."

Intrigued, he opened the box and gasped as he saw the two glass paperweights. They were beautiful and so detailed they looked like they would take flight anytime soon.

"They're wonderful, Grell, thank you!"

She smiled shyly at him, blushing at the rare smile he unknowingly let creep on his face as he examined the glass figurines. He really was a handsome man, she felt lucky that they had met and graduated together.

After he carefully placed the figurines back in the box, he held out his hand to her. She looked at it confused.

"Aren't you going to get up? I think I saw you preparing dinner in the kitchen before, let's not make it go to waste."

She smiled and took his hand while he led her to the table. Ignoring her protests ("You already cooked the meal, let me serve you."), he quickly lighted the candle and served the meal, commenting on how good it smelled and wondering how long had Grell been planning this.

After dinner, they sat on the couch with their wine glasses and reminisced about all they had been through during the years, William promising to mark the date and repeat the get together for next year.

 **~o~o~o~o~o~o~**

 **Wow, this was supposed to be finished before December 20 of last year, but I got busy with Christmas decorating and shopping, and actually FORGOT this story existed afterwards. I am so sorry, but at least I finished it, even if it's a bit rushed, I didn't really know how to finish this.**

 **Anyway, thank you for reading :)**


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